Review of Game Week 1

GW Points: 80
Overall Points: 80
Overall Rank: 41,417

Thought I’d get some early thoughts out there regarding the first game week despite Man Utd still to play this evening. Overall I’m fairly happy with my start to the season. I’ve not achieved anything out of the ordinary but I’d say it’s been a steady start and the team will be well set up going into game week 2. The plan has largely gone as well as it could with most players getting a decent return (detailed breakdown below). My biggest frustration was Grealish not starting but I don’t think it’s put me too far behind as I’d have gone for either Foden or Martinelli. Given the fixtures ahead, I’m very happy with my team set up going into game week 2. The main thing that could cast a grey cloud of the week would be if Rashford hits a huge score tonight as I was tempted to start with him ahead of Salah.

I thought it would be useful to breakdown each player:

Johnstone: Very happy with an early clean sheet from Johnstone. At 1.5m he stays in my team.

Saliba: Disappointed to lose the clean sheet but still think he’s underpriced at 3.5m. Still got an assist so stays in my team with good fixtures ahead. Stays in my team.

Estupinan: Happy with his return, slightly annoyed that he lost his clean sheet but good attacking returns. Stays in my team.

Colwill: I knew I’d take a hit during game week 1 on Colwill but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. If he can retain a starting place, he will stay in my team for the easier fixtures on the horizon.

Saka: glad I downgraded to Johnstone as it allowed me  to get Saka in. Great to see him on the scoresheet already this season. Stays in my team.

Grealish: The worst start, I don’t think anyone expected Grealish to start on the bench. As I mentioned in the WhatsApp group, there was a leaked team that meant I could have taken him out, but I’d already confirmed via the WhatsApp group that I’d locked in my starting team. It’s way more important to me that I make my team easy to follow for subscribers of the blog rather than making last minute changes for my own personal gain. As a result, I stuck with Grealish even though I had time to take him out. I don’t call myself an expert in playing the game but I do try to provide as much value as possible, this means keeping everyone up to date with my team in real time, with all moves posted in advance. As far as I know, this isn’t something that many people online do, they broadly talk about their teams and who they might pick but when it comes down to final decisions it’s usually done behind closed doors and then talked about retrospectively.  

Mitoma: 5 points was better than nothing, but I’d hoped he might pinch a goal considering Brighton scored 4. Happy with 5 points from the first game week though. Stays in my team.

Fernandes: To be confirmed

Haaland: Almost irrelevant as he’s so highly owed but a typical start from the goalscoring machine. Obviously, he stays in and will be captained most weeks.

Salah: I mainly started with Salah for game week twos fixture against Bournemouth. I’ll take 5 points from a tricky opening game, stays in my team.

Jackson: Not a great return but as with Colwill, I knew game week 1 was a tricky fixture. He stays in while he’s starting as Chelsea now have good fixtures and an EFL Cup game at the end of the August.

Player watchlist

Given the new rules, I think it’s important to have a watchlist of players who could potentially be bought in for game week 2 and beyond. Here are the players who caught my eye:

Diaz – I’m seriously considering cutting my loses with Grealish (as we can’t even be certain he starts at the weekend) and going for Diaz. This will save 0.5m and I think Diaz is likely to score more goals than Grealish this season. If he gets regular game time, I think he will also outscore Grealish. Liverpool also have a nice fixture against Bournemouth at the weekend.

Rodri – had a brilliant week, which he won’t do every week but I can see him scoring much more than last season based on the new scoring system. Won’t bring him in as City play Newcastle at the weekend but will certainly monitor further.

Eze – looks a bargain at 3m, was in one of my drafts for starting the season but typically took him out. 5 bonus points could mean he racks up a decent total across the season if he can keep hitting those performance points. Probably won’t bring him in for game week 2 as Palace face Arsenal but he’s certainly on my radar.

Diaby – another who scored well who was in my team at one point to start the season. Will monitor further but looks a good option at 3m.

Martinelli – took him out when I bought Saka in but I still think he’s good value at 4.5m.

Sanchez – if his value gets close to Johnstones, I may switch them. I’d rather have a Chelsea keeper over a Palace keeper if he looks like the number 1 choice for the season.

If Newcastle didn’t have City and then Liverpool next then their players would certainly be on the radar after thumping Villa at the weekend. However, I can’t consider them with those fixtures. Obviously, I’ll still be monitoring the likes of Isak and Barnes. I’ll also be watching Richarlison and Maddison during game week 2. I won’t be considering them for that week as they play Man Utd but I think both could do OK across the season. Richarlison in particular could be another bargain if he plays every week now that Kane has gone.

Plan for game week 2

I still need to see what the outcome of tonight’s game is, however, I don’t have huge plans going into game week 2. I set my team up initially looking beyond game week 1 so I think I’ve got a good balance for the week ahead. Arsenal (Palace), Liverpool (Bournemouth), Chelsea (West Ham) and Brighton (Wolves) have the best fixtures going into the week and I’ve got good coverage of their players. City play Newcastle and Man Utd play Spurs so I won’t be looking to bring in any of their players for the time being. 

The transfer I’m most tempted to make is dropping Grealish for Diaz. I like the idea of doubling up on Liverpool plays for the Bournemouth fixture and I’d also have a double up on Arsenal, Chelsea and Brighton players as well. There’s no guarantee that Grealish will start this weekend as I’m not sure why he was even dropped, I thought he was fairly nailed on to start for City but who knows with Pep how long he won’t be a starter for. I think Diaz is a bigger goal threat and potentially a bigger scorer across the season if he can get a lot of game time. Hopefully, he’s more certain to start as well after a goal at the weekend. 

Beyond this transfer, I’m not sure where I can improve my team going into game week 2. If I didn’t already own Colwill, I don’t think I’d be looking to bring him in as there could be rotation at the back for Chelsea. However, given the fixtures on the horizon, I’m not sure it’s worth taking him out. I’d have 3.5m to spend and no one really stands out as a big improvement if Colwill can continue to start. Chelsea also have an extra fixture during game week 3 with an EFL Cup game. I’ll ponder on this until closer to the next game week. There’s much better options in midfield but Colwill is the only player I’d want to lose at this stage so I’m a little stuck there.

One thing I will be interested in going into game week 2 is how the price rise and falls are managed. Points seem easier to come across this season. Players less likely to blank. With Jackson and Colwill only 2.5m but scoring 3 points each I’m assuming they won’t drop as they’ve scored more points than they are worth. If this was last season I think both of them blank in that game and lose value. Hard to see the cheaper players dropping much which could be a big factor when building budget.

If you wanted to check out the upcoming fixtures, you can do that here for the big teams (all collated manually so may not be 100% accurate):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AR7aip_TG62pbv8Fpcplf3THkvosEqqCrJdjwI1sY1E/edit#gid=0

I’d also be interested to hear how everyone else has got in during game week 1 and happy to answer any questions in the comments below.